The Warriors want continued emotion out of Stephen Curry, as seen in an April 14 game against Minnesota. Curry loosed his frustrations in Game 2.

Photo: Kelley L Cox, Reuters

The Warriors want continued emotion out of Stephen Curry, as seen...

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Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combined for just 31 points in the Warriors' Game 2 loss Monday.

Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press

Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combined for just 31 points in the...

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Warriors' Stephen Curry, (30) and head coach Mark Jackson talks things over during a time out, as the Golden State Warriors take on the Portland Trail blazers, at Oracle Arena on Sunday Jan. 26, 2014, in Oakland, Calif.

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Warriors' Stephen Curry, (30) and head coach Mark Jackson talks...

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Stephen Curry (30) high fives Draymond Greene (23) as they celebrate Curry's three-point shot late in the first half. The Golden State Warriors played the Minnesota Timberwolves at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, April 14, 2014.

The Warriors were trailing by 29 points late in the third quarter of Monday's Game 2 against the Clippers, and he had drawn contact on consecutive layup attempts without drawing a whistle.

Curry scrambled to his feet, rifled his mouthpiece at the scorer's table and let loose a verbal torrent on official Tony Brothers.

"I was frustrated with what the score was, and I got hit a couple of times and didn't get the calls. I was just letting them know how I felt at the time," Curry said a day ahead of Thursday's Game 3. "We're not going to quit. We're not going to just lie down and allow a team to do what it wants against us. We're going to be physical and come back.

"It's that competitive fire that we're going to need in Game 3 to be able to get it done and protect our home court."

Curry picked up a technical for screaming at the official, but it might have been worth it. The Warriors might have been sparked by Curry's rarely seen display of emotion.

"He plays with a chip on his shoulder. It fires us up when our leader does that," Klay Thompson said.

"He's a very competitive guy and a very fiery guy. You just don't see it much, because he keeps his composure really well on the court," David Lee said. "I thought it was great to see that out of him. We all should have shown a little more of that, because it was a very frustrating night."

The Warriors have been frustrated by the Clippers' aggressive defense in the opening two games of the best-of-seven, first-round series. Despite a split in Los Angeles, the Warriors shot 45.8 percent and committed 49 turnovers as the Clippers double-teamed and trapped Curry out of nearly every pick-and-roll.

After a strong finish to the regular season against mostly non-playoff teams, Curry has struggled against a defensive scheme that is hell-bent on getting the ball out of his hands.

Curry averaged 32.8 points on 51 percent three-point shooting, 10.8 assists, 4.8 rebounds and three steals per game in his final five regular-season games. In the first two playoff games, he has averaged 19 points on 23.1 percent three-point shooting and 7.5 assists to 4.5 turnovers.

"I've got to make plays. I've got to find ways to not let them take me out of the game," Curry said. "... I don't know how many shots I'm going to take, but I can be aggressive in different ways out of our pick-and-roll without trying to force things that aren't there.

"You're putting everybody in a bad spot when your spacing breaks down and you try to take on the world."

Curry also needs his teammates to step up their games, and Monday's third-quarter tirade was as much about getting their attention as it was about getting the attention of the officials.

It was another step in his progression toward becoming a vocal leader. That doesn't come naturally to Curry, but his teammates have noticed a change this season.

In a game at Washington, Curry called for a pick-and-roll and fired the ball to Draymond Green for a weak-side three-pointer after the Wizards trapped the Warriors' point guard.

"I knocked the shot down, but Steph came up to me and said, 'Hey, I need Klay in that corner,' " Green said. "That excited me, because I'm not stupid enough to believe that I'm going to be more effective than Klay in that situation. Steph knew that.

"He's our point guard. This is his team. This is his show. I want to do whatever I can to make that better, and it's exciting for me to see him demand something. That's a step in the right direction for an up-and-coming superstar point guard."